The Merchants of Menace

October 31, 2011 by Gail
Filed under VPL

The flight plans of travellers everywhere have been perversely disrupted in a recent decision by Australia-based Qantas Airways to ground it’s aircraft around the globe. These actions typify what amounts to the paying public being used as collateral damage in the tussle between the Company and three worker Unions: TWU, AIPA and ALAEA.

VPL

VPL is short for Very Penneylane. They’re my take on everyday lessons from life. Lessons learnt and others where I missed the boat completely. Life’s long or short, depending on which end of the paddle you draw. Either way, being stuck up a creek without one makes for some interesting observations.

About that Lesson

Ordinary me asks, “why Senior Management would close down their global ops if the impasse is stalled negotiations at a national level? Why not simply close down the Australian ops and keep hammering out negotiations behind the scenes?”

To me, it ‘looks like’ the company is using public discontent (and bigger is usually better for effect which is why a global shut down is immediately attention-getting) in the secret hope that perhaps this will work against ‘the other’ players.

Whatever way you look at it, it’s the general public who lost out, who were and are inconvenienced and have been put on the back foot. Their bad treatment is Qantas’ shame. The company hung their most valuable shareholders and customers out to dry. Who treats their customers like that? Collateral damage’ may be described as ‘denial of service to legitimate users when administrators take blanket preventative measures against the few.’

Colloquially-speaking, it’s like throwing a spanner in the air propulsion works knowing it’ll do some damage. Was that the real intention of Qantas Management? If it was, that’s a heavy-handed bully tactic if ever I saw one.

In the meantime, the general public are developing long memorys as well as having had a gutful of the inconvenience, the lack of good communication and feeling like they’re the meat in the sandwich, again! They’ll walk with their feet and who could blame them.

Transport Worker’s Union (TWU)

The crux of the stalled negotiations between Qantas and TWU revolve around issues of job security for the next Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) and a negotiable pay rise. If the word on the street is deemed to be reliable, then Qantas had trained strike-breakers nine months ago to do the work of TWU members.

The Union point to this as a breach of the Qantas Sale Act, and I add, specifically Part 3: 7.1.7 where who and what constitutes an Australian are defined. The Act says Qantas has a national responsibility to the Australian community, content, and workforce.

Imagine then, for arguments sake if you’re a New Zealander, have worked your whole working life in Australia and when push comes to shove, and you’re not holding Australian citizenship, you may not fit the ‘legal’ prescription for inclusion in union-negotiated benefits. Bears thinking about doesn’t it? Will the union continue to look after your interests too?

More importantly, are you willing to forfeit your New Zealand citizenship for an Australian one? But don’t panic, like America, Italy and countries of the former USSR; Australia has also relaxed resumption criteria and requirements over the last decade. It does allow dual citizenship in some form but I’d still advise you to check your status.

Australian International Pilots Association (AIPA)

AIPA on the other hand says, “it’s seeking a new clause in the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement that would ensure all of the airline’s flights were operated by pilots from Australia and not outsourced.” Similar issue, different take.

Australian Licenced Engineers Union (ALAEA)

Want a fair go, and a future with Qantas.

The Trilemma

In a modern take on things, it’d be fair to say we’ve hit the hard edge of our adaptive range as a society moving toward a new technological era. The interesting thing is both Qantas and the Unions don’t seem to see where they are right now. In reality and for once, they’re both on the same side of the old Industrial era line.

Qantas has an out-dated shareholder vs the new economy stakeholder ‘B’ Corp biz model and the Unions’ cause célèbre for job security are failing to understand that the new economy is: mobile, global and filling up fast with independent contractors. The way forward for the both of them? Radical adjustment.

The new economy future will continue to challenge both Qantas and the Unions power and sources of control. For both, understanding participatory culture and cultures is critical. These will define how both respond to the experience of what NEXT looks like. Failure to do so going forward may prove detrimental to their biz and organisational well-being.

We already see how the technological era workers are bringing in new ways of doing things, developing new processes and they’re not asking anyone’s permission to do that. So instead of all this adversarial angst, why can’t Qantas and the Unions begin crafting a new kind of organisational and economic capability between them?

Oh yes, I forgot, there’s the small matter of adjustment! And how quickly they can do that? They might be a while! The lesson? For any business is to adapt because YOUR future depends on it. And to treat your regularly-returning customers with respect because they’re your REAL stakeholders. They’re the reason you’re STILL in business. Stay in the game.